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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28479468">Morgana's not so sweet revenge</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Noxvae/pseuds/Noxvae'>Noxvae</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Merlin (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, I'm Sorry, Torture, Translated, anyway enjoy, but not sorry, i love it when my characters suffer, whoops does that make me a bad person</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 15:14:02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,861</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28479468</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Noxvae/pseuds/Noxvae</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Morgana finally gets a hold of Arthur, Merlin and the Knights of the Round Table, she can't resist the idea of torturing the man who betrayed her, knowing it would also pain the others.</p><p>Very graphic, so vade retro if sensitive to torture-related subjects. </p><p>Disclaimer : I don't own Merlin.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Morgana's not so sweet revenge</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>With this title it's easy to guess, there <i>will</i> be lots of detailed descriptions so if you don't like or are very sensitive, don't bother. You have been warned!</p><p>English is not my first language and I tried my best translating it from French, but I know I still make lots of mistakes… sorry (idioms are really annoying)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Well," mocked Morgana in the most hurtful tone she could produce, "If I expected to receive the King of Camelot in my humble home ..." The knights looked at her sneeringly, still being wise enough not to provoke her from the cell they were in. Their armors and weapons were taken, leaving them with only the clothes they were already wearing, the fine material of which could not protect them from the humidity of the underground cell. The defiant look of her prisoners did not please the witch at all, her mood suddenly deteriorating. She approached the bars, grabbing one with such fury that the knuckles of her hands turned white. "You took everything from me, <em>Arthur Pendragon</em>, and it's time for me to return the favor!"</p><p>The king stiffened, expecting her to use magic anytime. "I have been betrayed," she continued, "by those I loved! I was betrayed, by the one I trusted the most of all those I knew! " She shook her head, a disgusted look on her face replacing the previous rage. "How naive I was ... I thought I could count on the knights of Camelot; on my family ... " Her eyes, burning with hatred, went over Leon, stopping on Arthur to finally go towards Merlin. "But I have changed now!" she claimed with a monstrous laugh. "I am no longer the woman you have known, the sister; I am the last high priestess of the Old Religion!" She added, her dark gaze fixed on them like a heavy and stuffy weigh, "You will never be able to even try to imagine the power that I hold ... although you will have a good overview of it today! " she announced to them, smiling wickedly. The group, who listened to the witch's monologue in horror, opened alarmed eyes at these words. What could Morgana mean by that? "I lost everything because of you, my dear half-brother, and it is time that you too should lose what is dear to you, the same way I did years ago-" She raised a hand, her iris circled in gold. "-by your  loyal servant, Merlin!" The servant could do nothing to prevent the witch from dragging him to her, at the risk of revealing his greatest secret. The rest of the company rushed to help him, but the priestess' other hand sprang up and pressed them against the sticky walls of their prison; they struggled and yelled at Morgana to let their friend go, trying to break the spell; magic however made any resistance futile.</p><p>"Merlin, Merlin, Merlin," the dangerous woman repeated three times. "Let's see how long you can stay loyal to your master ..." She then took him to the adjoining cell, so that all the Camelotians could see what she was doing and hung the mage on chains hanging from the ceiling with a snap of his finger. Tight and rough, with protruding edges, they immediately started to cut into his wrists. He held back a groan, knowing full well that it would soon be just mild pain among many. "Time to get to work!" she announced in a cheerful voice. "What can you tell me about Camelot's defenses, Merlin?" she asked, starting to play with a knife. Arthur's heart missed a beat. His servant knew <em>everything</em>. Absolutely <em>everything</em>. And Morgana was about to torture him for this information. The king then regretted having shared them with the mage, convincing himself that he would not have to suffer would this be the case.</p><p>"That they are ... very secret? And that it's absolutely forbidden to talk about it with the wicked witches who are trying to kill Arthur? " he mocked.</p><p>"If you really want to play smart, Merlin, I won't stop you." The priestess' smile was widening. "It's so much more fun having to extract information from people, after all." The mage gulped. He really didn't like Morgana's carnivorous look. Suddenly, she cut his top with a fluid gesture, leaving the covered in superimposed scars skin bare in the cold air of the dungeon. A few drops of blood spilled from where it went through, cutting the flesh with the cloth.</p><p>"MERLIN !" Arthur roared, furious. "LEAVE HIM ALONE, MORGANE! TAKE ME IN HIS PLACE! "</p><p>"Ttt", replied the witch. "That wouldn't be revenge, would it ?" It felt like a cold shower to the king, who did not know what to do to help his friend. Then the priestess returned to her victim, finishing to tear off the coat that covered him. The eyes of all the prisoners widened at the sight of all the scars. They were so stunned that they could no longer align coherent thoughts. One question, however, was common to all of their minds: <em>how?</em></p><p>"Oooooh ~~~", she mocked, "You have had new ones since the last time you landed in my hut ..." Secretly, she too was extremely surprised, but ultimately didn't care, unlike the Camelotians. "Didn't he tell you?" she asked falsely surprised. "My men had found him passed out, <em>all ~ alone ~</em> in the forest ... I always wondered how you got rid of my Fomorrah <em>...</em>" She was most authentically curious. "But I'm going to have to work a little to find out, right?" she declared with a malicious grin to Merlin.</p><p>"You know my answer, Morgana ...", he said, avoiding the gaze of his companions. He did not want to face their questions, their doubts ... even their anger.</p><p>It is this moment  that his former friend chose to throw a bucket of ice water at him, soaking him from head to toe. </p><p>"Hisss ..." escaped from his lips at the freezing temperature of the liquid. He shook his head, removing the dripping black locks of hair that had fallen in front of his eyes. The witch was waiting for him with a sadistic grin, a white-hot dagger in her hands.</p><p>"Do you know why I particularly like this method, Merlin?" she asked, approaching the weapon to the chest of his victim who tried to move away from it by the little margin given to him by his irons hanging from the ceiling. Very quickly, he was blocked, unable to retreat further. Suddenly, Morgana buried the blade between his ribs, careful not to touch any vital organ. She didn't want it to end too quickly, after all. Sure, she could heal him, but that would use too much magic energy for her to still have the fun she wanted. "Because the pain remains, but the blood does not flow ..." Smiling at the servant's cries, she picked another dagger. "So I can do it as many times as I want ... I wonder if the hedgehog costume I planned for you will be successful ... " Her laughter echoed throughout the room, cruel and crazy. The witch was just a twisted shadow of the woman she once was.</p><p>
  <em>Hurts... It hurts...</em>
</p><p>It was all he could think of. The king's former ward had finally grown tired of piercing him from all sides, the screams no longer a melodious music to her ears.</p><p>"Still not giving in? No ?" she scoffed. "I guess I have to give you time to think ... You should sleep on it. " <strong>(I'm having a hard time translating idioms...)</strong> She moved away a little, coming back to the table where her things were. "Oh, one last thing ..." The chosen dagger was no longer hot but tapered like a razor, and she used it to engrave a symbol on her prisoner's chest. "Now we can say that you are mine!" Merlin could feel enemy magic seeping into his body, pervasive. "This spell is very subtle, you know? Some couples in the Old Religion decided to get it for their marriage. The principle is very simple ; as soon as they are out of the sight of the other, they suffer unbearable pain ... So romantic, isn't it? They wanted to demonstrate the strength of their love ... Of course, in our case, it is only you who is bound ... " She let her mad laugh resonate again on the walls of the dungeon, and left, leaving the mage confused. "Oh ! Maybe you thought I was going to untie you? But you know, it's so boring having to hang you up each time ... I thought I would save time! "</p><p>This time, she left for good, and the moment Merlin could no longer see her black dress flying behind her like a cloud of ominous omen, the promised suffering was reminded to him suddenly. Without the chains, he would have fallen to the ground, in a state of intense shock. Morgana had not lied, the vicious spell did not allow him the slightest respite. The servant had the impression of being locked in the heart of a brazier, voracious flames devouring him from the inside with greed; each inspiration was like a gulp of fiery liquid tracing its way to the lungs, making the mage already in bad shape suffocate. Fire was everywhere; his organs, his skin, his muscles ... and even his bones, the latter's giving the impression of melting under the immense heat that tore him apart. He no longer felt anything. Not the tears on her cheeks, nor the recent wounds, nor the bloody wrists. Only the burns, ever more present, ever more painful, crawling all over his body, enveloping him as if to mark him forever.</p><p>"MERLIN !" his king called out, shouting in despair and helplessness. But the mage didn't have the strength to scream, let alone respond; he could only stand there, helped by the shackles that cut his wrists, trembling because of his stimulated nerves.</p><p>The night went slowly, the servant unable to close his eyes. It was also the case of the knights, tormented by their helplessness. For hours they had tried to free themselves, to go and save their so close and yet unreachable friend, without any result.</p><p>"Did you sleep well, darling ?" the witch's mad voice sang out. Although extremely slowly, the night had ended.</p><p>"LEAVE HIM ALONE, MORGANA! You want me! "  the king pleaded, haggard looking and showing broken eyes. It looked like he was hanged and hurting, not Merlin. The other knights joined him, offering the same.</p><p>"Arthur, Arthur, Arthur ... You know very well that I can't do that, come on! " She then turned to her victim, ignoring the group's desperate demands. "Ready for the second round?" The king's former ward had in his hand a wooden box, covered in inscriptions. She opened it carefully and pulled out a white worm about the size of a little finger, placing it on the mage's bare shoulder. The animal squirmed, crawling along its arm before sticking its head to the skin and digging thanks to several rows of sharp teeth.</p><p>"Urgh," he groans. But the nightmare was just beginning. The worm sank more and more under the protective layer until it disappeared completely, forming a moving hump. Merlin was horrified, and wanted to wrestle with the little strength he had left when a sharp wave of pain crossed his whole arm; but it did not disappear, repeating on the contrary at regular intervals.</p><p>"Do you know what these adorable little critters love, Merlin?" Only a cry of pain answered her. “No ?” She approached, whispering in the ear of the tortured man: "Your nerves ..." The witch walked away again, continuing, "The <em>Gargwans </em>are such lovely animals!" she mocked. "Feeding on the nerves of their prey, their hunger never satisfied!" She placed a second on the servant's stomach, under the raging eyes of the Camelotians. "Oh ! But you shouldn't worry about this part, my dear little troublemaker... You remember this spell so -... " Morgana paused, searching for the right words. "...- impressive of an example of loyalty, well, for couples, which I demonstrated to you yesterday? It has another utility for linked wizards ... allowing them to pass on some of their magic to another to strengthen or even heal them ... " She burst out in sinister laughter. "You should be happy, Merlin! Your nerves will come back again and again as the <em>Gargwans </em>finally try to satisfy their insatiable need! " Then, the woman grabbed the box and knocked it over the mage, leaving dozens of worms clinging to their victim and starting their cruel work. "So ?!" she asked, her voice distorted by madness. "Still  nothing to say, Merlin ?!" For once, the loyal servant was happy that the pain made him scream so much, because these screams prevented him from revealing anything. The king's former ward did not move, reveling in the suffering inflicted on the man she had loved and the cries of the knights.</p><p>All day long, the animals continued their work, devouring Merlin's freshly restored nerves. It only took a few hours before he couldn't make any more sound, and his ears could no longer hear the incessant taunts of the witch, targeting him as much as his friends. Several times Arthur had almost cracked. Revealed everything to save his servant, who had become much more than that over the years. But each time, a look at the prisoner and his condition reminded him that if he endured all this, it was for them. It was for all the innocent people living in Camelot. So, the king stayed silent. He listened to all the cries, not losing a crumb, as a kind of punishment for letting Merlin suffer. He imagined himself in his place, he imagined his pain, and the only thing he could think about was:</p><p>
  <em>Resist. Stay strong. Because if you fail, we're all lost.</em>
</p><p>He himself did not know whether he was speaking to the mage or to himself; maybe both.</p><p>Merlin still said nothing.</p><p>The following days, Morgana came back with different tools, not forgetting to feed her prisoner. She had fun with her magic, plunging him into an icy abyss before opting for the heart of a furnace, sometimes inflicting both at the same time on each side of his body. She had fun by covering him in drawings, letters, sentences, according to her mood. She had fun branding him, 'as one of her possessions', she explained. And each passing day eroded the will of each of the Camelotians even more.</p><p>Once their jailer returned with a quantity of vials. She put them down, approaching the servant.</p><p>"Tssk," she said, looking irritated. "It’s not so funny anymore. I should try my potions on someone else. " At his words, a spark of life rekindled in the empty eyes of the apprentice physicist.</p><p>"NO! DON'T TOUCH THEM!" he objected.</p><p>“Oh? Looks like you have some energy left ... " Gwaine then intervened.</p><p>"You are right, you are right! If it's not funny with him, give them to me! "</p><p>"Too late, my valiant knight!" She took out a vial of greenish liquid, not in the least inspiring confidence. "I've been trying to make potions lately, but I can't know if I did well or not without a mentor ... That's why I brought back some samples to test! " she rejoiced, pointing to the twenty or so containers. "Say aaaaah," she parodied, approaching the chosen potion. The servant swallowed without hesitation.</p><p>He no longer felt anything. Merlin was relieved internally; maybe it wasn't going to be as horrible as he thought.</p><p>"Hmm ..." said the witch. "This, if done poorly, has a very funny effect! It's to- "She cut herself off. "Oh ! Silly me! I mustn't spoil it! "<br/>The mage then began to feel tingling in the tips of his fingers and turned his head in that direction. But when he saw it, he couldn't believe his eyes. His extremities were <em>rotting </em>at a fast pace. "It looks like it has already started," said the delighted torturer.</p><p>"Stop ..." whispered the servant. The process in itself didn't hurt; it was rather the opposite since the sensations disappeared from the affected limbs; but there was something unhealthy about having to watch the parts of his body darken and wilt, the flesh falling to dust to reveal the bone below. “Stop it !” he repeated louder, terrified of what was in store for him. Morgana only laughed. « STOP ! He lost all self-control under the terrible fear that invaded him. STOP! PLEASE STOP IT! " But the witch only laughed louder.</p><p>It was only when the effect finally touched the first organs that she let her magic work and canceled the whole thing, leaving Merlin panting and tearful. Then the old pupil of the king took a new vial, with purple liquid this time.</p><p>"Say aaah," she said again, knowing full well that this sentence would become a deep trauma for the tortured.</p><p>Some of the potions paralyzed him, others made him extremely sensitive in terms of touch, or even gave him the impression of being in the middle of a desert; but the one the witch preferred made him grow gills like a fish. Without water, however, the apprentice physicist began to suffocate, and she tormented him again and again by allowing him access to the vital fluid that was water and then abruptly removing it from him, without any warning sign.</p><p>When the effects of the potion wore off, the mage had no breath or energy. However, he still had a potion to test.</p><p>"Swallow," ordered Morgana with a sneer. This had no delayed or hidden effect; it was simply an acid that ignited his throat before nestling in the hollow of his abdomen, continuing to burn him internally without being able to do anything about it. At least, not without revealing himself.</p><p><em>I have… to hold on… </em>he tried to convince himself. <em>Arthur...</em></p><p>He didn't hear the witch taunt him one last time before leaving, but he felt the binding spell fall into place, the now familiar blaze burning him up. Like every evening, the knights rushed against the bars of their adjacent cell, cursing Morgana and trying to reassure their friend, while they themselves became more and more desperate. No news of a Camelot rescue group had reached them.</p><p>The next day, the king's former ward arrived with an even wider smile than usual.</p><p>"I decided to try something new today. What do you say about it, Merlin? " The madness that oozed from his voice disgusted the mage. He didn't answer, however, having learned that it only made things worse.</p><p>The vicious woman slowly approached him, an even more terrifying smile than usual stuck on his face. The apprentice physicist did not think it was possible. Suddenly, she placed one of her hands on the servant's face, at eye level, muttering an incantation: "<em>Niht blac.</em>"</p><p>When she pulled it back, he was blind. Internally, the mage was panicking like never before; only a deep black surrounded him on all sides. During the previous tortures, he had held on because each time his will wavered, his gaze fell on his friends locked next to him, and he told himself that he could not let them down. But how do you protect people you are not even sure are there? That you are not even sure you're not imagining? Fortunately, he still had his magic. He couldn't use it in fear of being detected by the witch, but it enveloped him, warm, reassuring. His other senses were not outdone, however, since Merlin could hear the knights protesting, as always, which gave him strength.</p><p>
  <em>They will not abandon me. Never.</em>
</p><p>And at this precise moment, an explosion of pain arose in the lower part of his back, accompanied by a snap, a sneer and the thudding of fists banging against metal bars.</p><p>"So, Merlin, what can you tell me about Camelot's defenses, huh? You must be aware of some juicy details on the rounds, the number of men, the weapons ... " The mage spat out the little saliva he had in the direction of the voice. He had apparently reached his target since the witch was silent, only speaking in an icy tone a few moments later. "You shouldn't have done that, <em>servant </em>!" she growled. Furiously, she drew another line of fire on the prisoner's body, snatching a cry from him as his skin was twisted and torn. Again and again the whip struck, avenging, igniting each piece of flesh of the apprentice physicist, who had believed he couldn't suffer more than he already had. He tried to evade the blows, wriggling in the little space that the chains gave him, but each time the new one hit its target, unpredictable. It took him a few minutes to realize that the instrument had been enchanted so he could reach the place he least expected, disappearing and reappearing in the blink of an eye anywhere around him. Merlin hated the stifling darkness that surrounded him, preventing him from planning, preparing and reducing him to unsuccessfully dodging, pathetic and bloody.</p><p><em>Ma -... gic ... If I use it, there would be no more pain ... I'd be free... </em>he thought, but some little voice in his head disagreed : <em>But you'd lose Arthur…</em></p><p>So he restrained his powers, preventing them from arising in the form of a destructive wave with each new wound on his body.</p><p>After what seemed like hours, Morgana apparently had had enough of his cries turned into moans. The blows suddenly stopped, his exhausted body collapsing at the moment the little adrenaline remaining disappeared, retained by the shackles which sank all the more into the wrists already badly hurt of the mage. He restrained another sob when his shoulders made him realize that he had to get up.</p><p>"Tch," spat the former pupil of the king, irritated. "All this annoys me ... Prepare the <em>Nathair</em> ! " she screamed. The apprentice physicist could hear someone rushing in, and a 'hiss'.</p><p><em>Snake. Fomorrah? </em>he panicked.</p><p>"Do you know what it is, Merlin? " she asked, before answering herself. "Am I stupid, how could a peasant like you even think that such an exquisite creature could exist? I present to you the <em>Nathair</em>. It's a shame you can't admire it, really. " His ears heard the 'hiss' again, closer this time. "Its venom has a ... very special effect," she declaimed in an almost seductive tone. "No matter how much a person trains their body to resist the pain, what about their mind?" The mage barely had time to record the information and prepare to be bitten that another voice thundered through the cell:</p><p>"ENOUGH MORGANA! DO WHAT YOU WANT TO US, BUT PLEASE LEAVE HIM! " The king had been screaming for the past few days. He had screamed when Merlin couldn't, had cried when he had no more tears, had begged for him. But it was the first time that you could feel so much despair in him.</p><p>“Oh? Would you be ready to take his place, my dear brother? Going against your father's words to save a poor servant? " Arthur gritted his teeth, enduring the mockery. Her stepsister had heard him repeat that same request every moment as soon as she took her friend, but it was the first time that she had really paid attention to what he said, which gave hope of saving the apprentice physicist from Morgana's clutches to the king.</p><p>"Uther may have been my father, and my king, but he was not always right."</p><p>"Careful, Arthur! You risk blasphemy ... " The man once again restrained his anger.</p><p>"If there remains even a little of the Morgana I knew, I implore you, let me be tortured instead of him!" Hesitation seemed to cross his jailer's face, not as sure of herself than before. She approached the other cell, stopping in front of Arthur just out of his reach. Opening her mouth with an air reminiscent of the old pupil of the king that she was, good and loving, she whispered to her half-brother:</p><p>"But I'm already torturing you ..." An expression of pure unhealthy pleasure had invaded her face again. Arthur hit the bars of the cage holding them, raging at his helplessness, and blaming himself for Merlin's suffering.</p><p>
  <em>It's not up to you to suffer, Arthur ... I'm here for that. This is my fate.</em>
</p><p>The pain of the snake's brutal bite was immediately lost in the one which suddenly tore the skull of the mage; it was like a white-hot bar was being pushed into his brain, smashing his skull, tearing apart all the flesh present, hammering his head, pricking with needles, burning, freezing, turning the brain over all at the same time. The worst was not this suffering, but the fact that each bad memory, bad emotion arose and were superimposed on each other, creating a maelstrom of sadness, mourning, regret engulfing the servant and making him suffocate more effectively than the potion 'gills' could ever have. He thought he had no more tears to offer? He was wrong. It was no longer streams flowing down his cheeks, but torrents, without him being able to hold them back. He had suffered at the hands of the witch for the past few days, but never had he felt so broken, lost, pitiful. Like a human all that is most common. However, he was not, and his magic began to fight the poison.</p><p>Morgana wanted to get information about Camelot, of course, but what interested her most was being able to torment Merlin, whom she thought had betrayed her. Now though, she was tired of it.</p><p>"You don't amuse me anymore," she told him before letting the servant to the ground for the first time since she started torturing him. Thanks to her magic, she threw the apprentice physicist into the cell where the other Camelotians were, who rushed to help him.</p><p>"Let's see... Who's next ?" she thought out loud.</p><p>"No ..." croaked his victim weakly in a hoarse voice, which was normal given his parchment-like throat. The venom had been eliminated.</p><p>"Chhhht ..." Arthur ordered. "You're safe now."</p><p>“No !” he repeated louder. "Don't touch them!" He was still blind, and could only imagine the worried look of his king, who wanted to end his suffering, and the wicked grin of the witch.</p><p>"And what can you offer me, Merlin? What can you offer me that is worth the life of all these Camelot sires? " she scoffed.</p><p>"Nothing," he admitted. "But I won't let you touch them. I don't care what happens to me, as long as they're fine ... "</p><p>"How nice of you..." she mocked. "Yet fine words are not gonna save you, <em>servant</em>. Life is simple: strong, you reign. Weak, you die. And you, <em>Merlin</em>, you don't belong to the first category. "</p><p>“I know. Morgana was going to add something to the confession of her enemy, but the continuation of his answer surprised her: "I do not belong to any category", he said to her, getting up at the sole strength of his will, with difficulty.</p><p>"Everyone belongs to a category. This is how society works. "</p><p>"But exceptions have always existed, right? Beings who couldn't be coerced in any way." Somehow, he was standing, facing his interlocutor who giggled.</p><p>"And you think that you are one of them ? You are nothing but ordinary, my poor friend! "</p><p>"This is where you're wrong. And when he looked at her, it was right in the eyes. Blue, no longer blind but full of restrained fury, against green, lost.</p><p>"How ?" she asked rhetorically, stunned.</p><p>"I will never tolerate that you make those I love suffer!" he said to the woman in front of them. The knights looked at him in disbelief. Already surprised by his resistance the previous days, they did not expect to discover Merlin in such a new light. The servant no longer appeared naive or weak, but exuded self-confidence and power. The words 'Merlin' and 'powerful' usually not being used in the same sentence.</p><p>"You forget our link!" she smiled then, snapping her fingers. Nothing happened.</p><p>"Surprised ?" the mage asked.<br/>His wounds had stopped bleeding and even seemed to heal. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and when he opened them again, it was to reveal them circled in gold. "You have never been alone," he told her then. "Just too blind to notice." Before Morgana could regain her composure, he raised his hand and threw her against the wall behind, then twisted the bars of their cage. Finally, exhausted, he fell to his knees and barely had time to murmur to the knights divided between incomprehension, joy and betrayal: "She is not going to ... stay unconscious for long ..." Only then does he pass out.</p><p>Arthur approached the still body of his best friend, hesitant.</p><p><em>He has magic</em>, whispered a voice resembling the one of his father. <em>He is evil. He betrayed you, lied to you. </em>Another voice objected: <em>But it's Merlin! Nice, sweet, stupid, Merlin! And he stayed with you all these years, accompanied you on quests each more dangerous than the other! Why, if he was evil? </em>All the tortures that the servant had suffered without saying anything fed the thesis of the second voice in his head, finishing its job of convincing the king.</p><p>"Someone go tie up Morgana!" he ordered, before squatting down next to the mage. He gently passed his hands under his body before lifting it. Once he had wedged him in his arms, Arthur mumbled: "You, you have some explaining to do...", before addressing the rest of the group: "Let's go!"</p><p>Gwaine's smile could have burst the ceiling.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>5000 words $ * $% £ * ùµé "ù *" $ !!! Can't take it anymore! Even if I am happy with the result !!!</p><p>Well, I hope that this story was mostly mistakes-free, and do not hesitate to point them out to me so that can correct them.</p><p>Thank you for reading ! (By the way, if you have an idea you want someone to write, you can always suggest it to me)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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